Keeping water resources healthy in the face of increasing development pressure requires informed decision-making and cooperation on the part of citizens and government agencies. The Shoreland Education Program, sponsored by the University of Minnesota Extension, in cooperation with Minnesota Sea Grant, works to improve the water quality, habitat, and aesthetics of lakes and rivers.
We provide educational resources for shoreland property owners, the landscape and nursery industry, natural resource professionals, Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists, realtors, developers, and local government agencies. Key components of the program include workshops, hands-on field experience, educational materials, and research and demonstration sites.
Workshops cover a range of water-related topics such as basic limnology, best management practices for shoreland property, aquatic and wetland plant identification, erosion control, invasive species control, shoreland revegetation, and shoreland maintenance and management. Many of these workshops provide hands-on and field experience that build participant confidence, resulting in long-term impacts in urban and rural areas of Minnesota.
Educational products supporting the Shoreland Education programs include this website, a bi-monthly newsletter (From Shore-to-Shore), fact sheets, how-to workbooks, the Lake Home and Cabin Kit, and videos/DVDs addressing shoreland issues.
Since 1997, over 100 shoreland restoration demonstrations sites have been implemented on public and private lake and river shorelines. Research has included appropriate installation methods and alternative erosion control techniques. These demonstration and research sites are used to forward the science of shoreland restoration and provide the basis of many of the shoreland educational materials.